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Karen Buset, Ghislaine Declève & Tuulevi Ovaska EAHIL Conference 2016, Seville, Spain

How to work together on an international project

Experiences from a benchmarking project of three European health libraries

Karen Buset – Ghislaine Declève – Tuulevi Ovaska BMH, NTNU, Norway – BSS, UCL, Belgium – KUH medical library, UEF, Finland

Benchmarking should been seen as the beginning of a journey of discovery – not as an end it itself. The aim should be to learn more about your service by comparing its impact with that of the others – not to secure a place in a table of merit.

Markless & Streatfield

Karen Buset, Ghislaine Declève & Tuulevi Ovaska EAHIL Conference 2016, Seville, Spain

Benchmarking project of three European health libraries

• Proposal and plan 2012 • Project started 2013 • Mainly worked online • Hardly no costs • No project leader

EAHIL Conference 2016, Seville, Spain Karen Buset, Ghislaine Declève & Tuulevi Ovaska

What is benchmarking?

• First, shoemakers used the term benchmarking • Now, used to measure performance using a specific indicator • Our project is a best-practice benchmarking project

• Used in strategic management • Organisations evaluate activities in relation to best or better practices • To make improvements • May be a one-time event, often a continuous process

EAHIL Conference 2016, Seville, Spain Karen Buset, Ghislaine Declève & Tuulevi Ovaska

Getting ideas, solutions and examples

• Planning library space • Teaching IL • Marketing and promoting • Integrating services in users’ work • Collaborating with other services

EAHIL Conference 2016, Seville, Spain Karen Buset, Ghislaine Declève & Tuulevi Ovaska

Methods of the project

• Collaborative collection of data • Observation and shadowing • User and staff interviews • EAHIL colleagues focus group • Collaborative blog writing • Learning by doing

EAHIL Conference 2016, Seville, Spain Karen Buset, Ghislaine Declève & Tuulevi Ovaska

Tools for cooperation

Karen Buset, Ghislaine Declève & Tuulevi Ovaska EAHIL Conference 2016, Seville, Spain

Collecting data • Library areas, facilities and equipment • Services for the public, including loan, ILL and user training • Collection management, bibliographic records • Institutional repository • Library staff, both number and staff training • Financial data

How to compare?

EAHIL Conference 2016, Seville, Spain Karen Buset, Ghislaine Declève & Tuulevi Ovaska

Library visits

• Discussing with library directors • Interviewing library users about library space • Interviewing library staff members • Looking at the physical space and collection

organisation • Learning about staff organisation • And relationships with hospital and university

EAHIL Conference 2016, Seville, Spain Karen Buset, Ghislaine Declève & Tuulevi Ovaska

Interviewing users about library space

• What do you use this library for? • Why do you (study/read/work/group work) right

here? • Where would you study if the library did not exist?

EAHIL Conference 2016, Seville, Spain Karen Buset, Ghislaine Declève & Tuulevi Ovaska

Karen Buset, Ghislaine Declève & Tuulevi Ovaska EAHIL Conference 2016, Seville, Spain

Similar user activities in libraries • Reading lecture notes and other study material • Discussing, talking, working in groups • Writing lab reports and research papers • Searching for information • Using library’s and their own books • Working on their own laptops and library computers

If the library did not exist

EAHIL Conference 2016, Seville, Spain Karen Buset, Ghislaine Declève & Tuulevi Ovaska

Instead of it Users would choose to work

BMH (Norway) home

BSS (Belgium) campus

KUH (Finland) campus/home

Insights from user interviews

• Spaces for both individual and collaborative work • Both silent and semi-silent work or study • Access to computers and Wi-Fi • Natural daylight

EAHIL Conference 2016, Seville, Spain Karen Buset, Ghislaine Declève & Tuulevi Ovaska

Interviewing staff about roles and value

• What is your role in this library? • Why do you work here? • What is the meaning/purpose of your work here? • What value does the library (and your role in it) add to the university? • What would it mean if the library did not exist/provide the services? • In your opinion, is the library doing the right things/providing the

right services?

EAHIL Conference 2016, Seville, Spain Karen Buset, Ghislaine Declève & Tuulevi Ovaska

Reflections on library work • Staff members were willing to invite us to take part in

processes where they reflect on the meaning of their work and the value of library

• We found the value of the library together • If libraries did not exist, they would have to be invented

EAHIL Conference 2016, Seville, Spain Karen Buset, Ghislaine Declève & Tuulevi Ovaska

Takeaways from the staff discussions

Connect user needs with staff views to develop a more user-oriented service

EAHIL Conference 2016, Seville, Spain Karen Buset, Ghislaine Declève & Tuulevi Ovaska

Karen Buset, Ghislaine Declève & Tuulevi Ovaska EAHIL Conference 2016, Seville, Spain

Focus group with EAHIL colleagues

Advice from the focus group

• What could non-users tell us • Main focus on marketing • EAHIL Special Interest Group (SIG) on marketing • How the project should proceed

• focus on fewer topics • decide what to measure • use indicators

EAHIL Conference 2016, Seville, Spain Karen Buset, Ghislaine Declève & Tuulevi Ovaska

International benchmarking

• Aims at providing good services • Involves

• Working hours and personal interest • Support of the supervisors and organisation • Constant evaluation and continuing development • Draws attention to different ways of managing a library

• Provides tools and suggestions • Is challenging but rewarding

EAHIL Conference 2016, Seville, Spain Karen Buset, Ghislaine Declève & Tuulevi Ovaska

Information Skills

Opportunities

Thank you for your attention!

References and links can be found in the full text.

Take a look at our blog! https://benchmarkingthreehealthlibraries.wordpress.com